Tour of Ecuadorian Cultural Sites

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The bright colors of handbags, ponchos, blankets and other garments capture the attention of people who visit the Mindala handicraft workshop in Otavalo, Ecuador, as well as the Andean musical instruments that can be seen in the Ñanda Mandachi workshops. These places will be visited by the university students who are studying abroad with the Department of International Programs at CEDEI.

This tour corresponds to the initial part of the Fall Semester program. It will be complemented by visits to other provinces of the Ecuadorian north highlands such as Pichincha and Tungurahua, where they will visit places with great historical and cultural value, such as Mitad del Mundo (the Middle of the World), la Capilla del Hombre (Chapel of Man), Salasaca, and Patate. The students will also visit the province of Napo, part of eastern Ecuador, where they will travel to Cotococha and from there they will do various hikes and canoe trips to experience and enjoy the charms of the Ecuadorian jungle. In addition, they will visit a Quichua family and learn a lot about ancestral customs such as washing gold on the banks of the river, the production of ceramics, the preparation of their traditional cassava chicha, hunting with a blowgun, and more.

After this initial trip, the students will arrive at CEDEI, in Cuenca, to meet the International Programs Department staff who will accompany them during their stay in Ecuador. The students will also meet their host families who will receive them in their homes, as a member of the family.

This group is made up of university students from several US higher education institutions such as Salisbury University, Siena College, Syracuse University, Miami University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, San Diego State University and the University of Alaska Southeast. Additionally, this year we are visited by a student of Linneaus University in Sweden.

In this way, university students from other countries come to CEDEI in Ecuador to continue their studies, learn Spanish, and learn more about Latin American culture.